Sailor Planet Guardians 1 - The Invaders
by Perlune
Summary: Five teenage girls accidentally witness the last moments of a creature who has come to warn them of an imminent alien invasion. With the help of the powers he passes on to them, top gymnast Annabel Magnett tries to infiltrate the Infested and soon finds out they're in for a world of trouble...
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's note** – I original wanted to project the Sailor Moon universe into science-fiction, getting rid of the _sentai_ aspect in order to explore it from a realistic perspective. I suppose the fact that my Sailor Moon and Animorphs collections share a common bookshelf had something to do with how I came up with this story in the first place – what I can say for sure, though, is that the idea of five teenagers fighting to protect their planet from the invasion of evil forces sounded familiar somehow. So you could say this story is basically Animorphs' storyline in a Sailor Moon universe. Now Animorphs fans will definitely find the scenario to be virtually the same, and I want to make it clear that this is an artistic choice on my part – it's not like I lack the imagination to make up my own ideas for stories. Think of it as an exercise in style, and I hope you enjoy this unlikely cross-over._

It was a beautiful spring day, though. None of us could have foreseen that we would all end up in detention. Mrs. Seymour had kind of gone mad, and her mood had just gotten worse with each passing hour – or, more specifically, with each of our blunders.

Abiona Airey had been first. She's a strong and witty girl who doesn't mince her words. She's not exactly a big-mouth – rather, she waits for the right time, like a lurking snake watching its prey, and spits her venom, often a mere few words, but sharp and accurate. She's not necessary hostile either, but the bottom line is, you don't want to mess with Abiona Airey unless you're ready to face the shaming of a lifetime. That day, we had been studying colonialism and Mrs. Seymour had said something I can't quite recall – but since Abiona is black, it had really pissed her, and she had come up with a very unkind, though clever comment, not something you should say to a teacher, anyways. As far as I can remember, she had pretty much overreacted, but on the other hand, Mrs. Seymour could have tried and cool things down. Abiona had remained calm at her sentence, but you could practically feel her cold anger stir inside her.

Next had been Phoebe Burns. This slender, fashionable girl with blonde hair and clear blue eyes and a smooth, pale skin, was the popular type – quite the kind who could make the front cover of Shout Magazine. She was a proud person and would never drop an argument, especially against a boy. So when some guy had made a joke implying that the more girls care about their appearance, the less brains they have, she instantly flew off the handle and they had a heated quarrel that Mrs. Seymour found herself unable to settle. When she asked Phoebe to cut it, she would not just lay low and let the storm pass over. Instead she couldn't help but brag about how there was no way such macho words should go unpunished. All it earned her was an hour of detention, while the boy got off lightly. Phoebe had cloaked herself in her dignity, haughtily ignoring the muffled laughs around her.

From there, everything had just seemed to go down the drain. Lynn Wells had been caught exchanging notes with her neighbor, and the sanction had been instantaneous. Though I suppose she deserved it, I couldn't help but feel bad about it because I'd always appreciated her. She was gentle and kind, you know, the girl that would always find something nice to say when you feel down. She exuded peace and harmony in every way. With her brown hair dressed in a simple ponytail and her deep, dark blue eyes, she looked neither plain nor sophisticated. Actually, while Phoebe was stylish, Lynn was merely beautiful. I couldn't imagine a single outfit or haircut or whatever feature that she would not be able to wear elegantly. Somehow, she was not only beautiful herself, but she would make anything she would touch beautiful as well.

Even the class's swot, Sophie Bloom, got detention from giving an irrelevant answer when questioned. I guess she was merely distracted, but our peeved teacher clearly felt offended with her attitude. Though that girl isn't exactly the kind of company I would keep, I also felt kind of sorry since she always works so hard. With her braided fair hair and green eyes hiding behind a pair of glasses, she just looked like the typical model student. She was often made fun of by other pupils who were supposedly jealous of how successful she was with school – besides, she was pretty plump, not to the point where it was ugly, but I think she's always had a complex about it.

And finally, I, Annabel Magnett. I had failed to show my homework for the simple reason that I hadn't done it in the first place – so I'd deserved the punishment, like Lynn had. I was never the studious type, though I usually managed to get away with it. I don't know why that was exactly. Perhaps because I was a quiet girl and there was scarcely any reasons for the teachers to hear about me – or maybe that was just Mr. Chambers, our PE teacher, who would stand up for me in the unlikely event I should run into trouble. My proficiency at gymnastics served me well for that matter. He would always tell me that I was gifted, that I should go professional and even aim for the Olympics. To be honest, I wasn't sure there was anything so exceptional about myself. I could sure see that most of my classmates had a hard time, or were otherwise plainly unable to do stuff that came naturally to me – but, that's the point, if just felt so _natural_. They would often say that I looked down on them, that how I would act so cool showed how much contempt I felt towards them – but the truth is, I didn't feel any exceptional at all. Just a regular teenager, with a teenager's mind, and a teenager's dreams, and a teenager's concerns. I guess when people think highly of someone, they expect them to brag a bit. More like Phoebe, who acts like she's a special person, because she genuinely thinks of herself as a special person. So much for trying to blend in.

Anyways, however they would speak of me, they all seemed to agree on this – I could do virtually anything with my body. And I liked it, this sensation of freedom, just knowing that no one could stop me from moving exactly the way I wished to. I loved to throw myself in the air with confidence, oblivious to the fear of getting hurt that pinned so many people down t the ground. I loved to play with gravity, just the same way others would play with a ball or with water. It was not just about pushing myself, it was like having a secret friend – a mysterious force everyone felt, but which spoke only to me. 'Watch out, Annabel, I'm going to pull you down right now. – It's okay, I'm ready for you, carry on.' My dad used to call me his 'little monkey', which he had stopped to do seeing as how some girls were getting giggles from it. But as far as I was concerned, I didn't really mind – after all, a monkey was exactly what I was. I didn't think of it as a demeaning comparison, on the contrary. Monkeys are smart and skilful, and people make fun of them whereas they can hardly do a tenth of what monkeys can. Story of my life.

So, the five of us were detained when the day was over, and there was a heavy atmosphere filled with annoyance in the classroom. Abiona seemed determined to boycott the English test Mrs. Seymour had given us, while Phoebe was muttering to herself in cold anger. Sophie was quiet but I was pretty sure that deep down she felt very ashamed to be here, undoubtedly for the first time. Only Lynn looked more or less relaxed. As for myself, I was just daydreaming, waiting for the detention to pass by, satisfied with the few answers I had written down. I knew that wouldn't be enough for Mrs. Seymour, but I was kinda hoping the other girls would give her better reasons to get angry about. Also, it seemed like she was annoyed to watch over the pupils she had detained herself. Thus, none of us was surprised when she left the classroom, saying she would be back in a few minutes.

As soon as she got away, Lynn came to sit next to me.

'Any luck with the test?', she asked with a smile.

I shrugged.

'Oh, I dropped it. What about you?'

'I'm stuck here and there... I wouldn't mind some help.'

'Why don't you ask Sophie?'

'I don't think she would approve of someone trying to cheat.'

I gave a quick glance at Sophie. She blushed and faced away.

'Plus, that might encourage you to fill in your own sheet, don't you think?'

That was very much like Lynn – always looking for win-win situations. I nodded and made some room on the table so that she could put her stuff down. We spent a few minutes working together and we were almost done when Abiona suddenly stood up and headed for the door.

'What are you doing?' Sophie called out with an anxious voice.

'I need some fresh air. I'm gonna go outside.'

Phoebe stood up as well.

'I need to talk to Mrs. Seymour. I'm going with you.'

Lynn turned to me.

'They're going to get us all in trouble. Let's get them back.'

I nodded.

'Right. I'm coming with you.'

'I'm staying here. Hey!' Sophie called from behind us, and soon she was on our heels too.

We strode along the corridors, following one after another. It was pretty funny, how each of us would offer the other an excuse to ditch detention in good faith. But I think that deep down, we were starting to feel something was going wrong around here. At that point, the only thing we could notice was how empty and silent the school seemed. We passed by the teacher's lounge, only to find Mrs. Seymour wasn't there.

'Well', Abiona sighed, 'you girls do as you please, I'm definitely out of here.'

'Maybe she got back to the classroom while we were away?' Sophie suggested.

We reluctantly made our way back to the classroom. We had to get our stuff before going, anyways. But we were relieved to find our teacher hadn't come back in the meantime.

'I must still see her', Phoebe insisted. 'I'm not just running away like a burglar.'

'Suit yourself', Abiona said, waving her off.

'I'm not gonna stand for you when she learns what you did, you know that!'

'By all means don't. It would pain me to have to thank you.'

Lynn walked straight between the two girls as she felt the tension rise between them.

'Good evening, Phoebe', she called, 'and you too, Abiona.'

'Yeah, evening girls', I said, hurrying right behind her.

We left the building with these words. I was kinda expecting the girls to go back to fighting but they must have decided it wasn't worth it because they followed us a few moments later. We walked silently through the schoolyard. This is when I really started to feel oppressed. There was no sign of activity close to us. Birds weren't singing. The street in front of the school was deserted. It was like we were suddenly alone in the world.

That's when we heard a screeching noise. We turned back. And we saw it.


	2. Chapter 2

'What the hell is _that_?'

The scenery looked like it was distorted, as if it was some piece of painted paper and something was trying to pop from behind it. The air was vibrating around the phenomenon and we could feel overwhelming energy emanating from it. Suddenly, we were drowned in blinding light. We all faced away with a scream. As soon as I was able to open my eyes again, I had a hard time believing what I was seeing – a creature, the shape of a horse, with radiant, white wings, was standing in front of us.

'A Pegasus?', Sophie exclaimed in disbelief.

While none of us dared move, Phoebe carefully approached the creature, her arm extended in a friendly gesture. It lowered its head and poke her hand with its snout. Then it abruptly fell to its knees.

'It's injured!'

The five of us instantly rushed forward to support the horse-like creature.

Don't worry about me.

'Who spoke?'

We all exchanged puzzled looks.

'Did you hear that just now?', Abiona asked doubtfully.

As we all nodded, Phoebe turned to the creature.

'Can you hear us?'

Yes, I can.

I had carefully watched its lips this time and they had definitely not moved an inch. It didn't feel like it was coming from outside, anyways. More like...

'Are you speaking in our minds?', I suddenly asked.

Yes, I am.

'Oh, boy. Now _that_ is freaky.'

'Who are you? What are you doing here? Why are you injured?'

I have come to warn you.

'Warn us? About what?'

An alien force is coming to invade your planet.

'_Sorry_?!'

'Aliens? With highly advanced weapons and spacecrafts and stuff?'

No. A much more perverted kind. They do not seek to destroy you. What they want is... _you_.

'Us? What do you mean?'

They're called Shadows. They're parasites. A species which feeds on others. They infest living creatures and take control of them. Then they have their host behave exactly like before so it's impossible to tell the difference. They progressively infest whole planets undetected that way. They will make sure you remain unaware of their existence until you're all under their control.

'That's terrible!'

'But why do they want us for?'

You humans are numerous. They want you for your number. So that they can raise an invincible army and wipe out all who oppose them.

We fell silent for a while. Vile parasites from space coming to enslave all humanity – it was all so surrealistic, any of us would have laughed at it in normal circumstances. However, the circumstances were all but normal.

'But we're just a couple of teenage girls', I said meekly. 'You should speak with members of the government; There's hardly anything we can do.'

There's no time. I will give you something to fight with.

'What? Weapons?'

A special kind of weapon.

There was another burst of blinding light, though weaker than the previous one, and a small, glowing cube came out of nowhere in the front of the creature.

Come closer. Each of you, put your hand on a side of the cube.

We all did as we were instructed. The cube's surface was tepid and buzzing gently. The creature closed its eyes and I felt a little dizzy for an instant. Other than that and some itching in the tip of my fingers, I felt like nothing had change.

There.

'What did you do to us?'

I passed a piece of Pegasian technology on to the five of you. It is part of you now and no one can steal it from you.

'What technology?'

Instant genetic engineering. You can alter your genetic structure up to some point.

'Like, growing a third limb or stuff like that?'

Not to such extremities. But you can improve your metabolism in various ways and achieve feats which greatly surpass your kind's normal abilities. With experience, you will be able to manipulate increasingly complex sequences and even mimic those from other species.

'Seriously? But, how does it work? I mean, if your technology is inside our bodies, how do we command it?'

Through formulae. Your body will react to particular sets of nerve impulses which are in turn triggered by certain formulae. You will have to figure them out by yourself since I do not have the required knowledge about your species to predict how your nervous system works. What I can say for sure, though, is that meaningful formulae are necessarily unusual expression. This is a fail-safe to avoid accidental triggering of your powers.

Abiona chuckled.

'Unusual expressions we have to figure out by ourselves. Great.'

Phoebe looked daggers ar her.

'This is serious!'

Abiona stared back and shrugged. She was about to reply but her answer was cut off by a sudden, low vibration humming in the air. It was like some kind of silent aircraft slowly going down from above. We all looked up.

They're coming! Hide! the Pegasus urged us.

'But, we can't leave you here!', Sophie exclaimed.

You have to. It's too late for me anyways. They have come for me, don't let them find you too. Go!

Abiona pulled Sophie away from the creature as the rest of us hurried towards the school's gate. The humming was progressively getting louder and louder, quickly turning into a deafening noise.

'We won't make it!' Lynn shouted 'We have to hide _now_!'

'Over here!' I said, pointing at a pack of bushes which surrounded the lawn.

I jumped behind them and my classmates followed me, just in time. There was the same kind of cracking noise we had heard as the Pegasus had shown earlier, just much louder. Then, from nowhere, a huge distortion appeared in the sky, right above our school, through which a giant fortress in the shape of a dark crystal descended. The Pegasus's voice echoed in your minds.

The Shadows' Lair. A heavily defended fortress from which they conduct the invasion of your planet, and which is invisible to any of your detection systems. It bears dark crystals Shadows need to connect to regularly in order to replenish – once in about three of your days.

It came to me that it was his last moments and he was trying to give us as many intelligence as he could. Suddenly, a couple of bolts shot from the crystal's surface to the ground, summoning horrendous creatures which quickly spread out around the schoolyard. They looked like some sort of dinosaurs, except that their skin was covered with razor blades.

Saurians. A peaceful species entirely enslaved by the Shadows. They are to be pitied.

It was pretty hard to believe these killing machines were originally peaceful, to be honest. They were followed by disgusting worms with dozens of short limbs, quite like centipedes.

Myriapods. Those are allies of the Shadows which let themselves infest willingly.

As difficult as it was to picture Saurians as harmless beings, those Myriapods, on the contrary, definitely gave a straightforward impression. Judging by the Pegasus's words, they were just as disgusting deep down as they looked. The monsters were securing the perimeter when Sophie gasped and pointed at a group of people who emerged from the crystal as well.

Infested humans. Those are not people anymore. They have all fallen to Shadows and one of them is controlling their every moves.

I felt a shiver crawling down my spine. You would expect infested humans to exhibit monstrous traits, or some kind of clue as to their condition – but they looked perfectly normal, with natural movements, shouting orders and talking to each others like any humans would. Some of them even looked kind and friendly. Shadows in disguise – a disguise so perfect it was impossible to tell them apart from real humans. Even for us, who knew.

Then, a gate opened at the Lair's surface. And, to our greatest surprise, a horse-like creature with shimmering wings came out of it – another Pegasus. However, although he had pretty much the same appearance as the one who came to help us fight the Shadows, there was clearly something different about him – an evil aura, so dark you could practically feel cold and fear oozing out of him.

Variscite Three. The leader of the invasion. The only Shadow which was able to infest a Pegasian ever. He's very cunning and will stop at nothing.

The infested Pegasian landed gracefully in the middle of all his minions. He slowly approached his wounded kin and looked down at him.

So, Prince Erlan, we finally meet in person, don't we?

Hearing Variscite Three's spooky voice in our heads was like having a cockroach our back. We exchanged anxious looks, worried that we might have been spotted.

Stay calm, the warm voice of Prince Erlan said. You can hear him only because he wants everyone to hear and witness his triumph. As for me, I'm using private mind speech – he's not aware I'm talking to someone.

It is such an honor, the infested Pegasian continued, You have fought bravely. Unfortunately, you have lost.

I have merely lost a battle, Variscite. You have not won the war. This planet isn't yours yet.

Variscite Three's cold laughter echoed throughout the schoolyard – or so it seemed, since it was obviously all in our minds.

Conquering this planet shall be a breeze, Prince. Creatures so weak – no natural weapons, feeble bodies, all so full of themselves... And so _numerous_! A _legion_ of Shadows rampaging throughout the galaxy in these hosts, and slowly turning every living being into one of ours – can you picture that?

I don't need to – that will never happen!

Ah, that's the spirit, Prince. You see, it's what I like about your kind – always so confident about being on the rightful side. It's funny, when you think of how this war started...

Prince Erlan remained silent. His voice was growing fainter as the conversation was going on, and I knew he had little time left.

But let's go straight to the point, if you don't mind – I see you're severely injured, and I do not not want to miss the privilege of putting you to death with my own hands.

Though it was difficult to see from the distance, I noticed that the infested Pegasus's jaw was slowly coming out of place.

I worked this strand out of the Saurians' DNA, Prince. I'm sure you're going to love it.

As a Pegasian, he also possesses the genetic engineering technology. Prince Erlan explained to us.

And, as Variscite Three's maw opened wide, we could see several rows of enormous, razor-sharp fangs shine in the sunset's last beams. We watched in horror as the infested monster bit into the body of the wounded Pegasian. I don't feel like going into detail further, I guess you get the picture. I wish I hadn't stared to be honest, but I couldn't take my eyes off it. I felt like I owed it to the bravery of Prince Erlan to watch his last moments to the end. Also, I had to know how far our enemy was willing to go. And the scene I was watching was giving this question a plainly brutal answer.

Anyways, a few moments later, Prince Erlan's body had vanished.


	3. Chapter 3

We were all in shock. I don't know who started crying first. I think we all shed tears at some point, but I do remember Sophie sobbing louder than the rest of us.

'Shut up, sissy, you're gonna give us away!' Abiona scolded her.

But that was no use, she just couldn't help it, as any of us hardly could. I could swear even the tough Abiona had shiny eyes while uttering these words. A couple of Saurians were roaming close to us, and we did our best to hold our breath. I remember trembling heavily – which I didn't like at all since I was so used to controlling every last part of my body. Luckily the creatures soon walked away, and there were sighs of relief.

'We need to get out of here, fast,' Phoebe whispered. 'Why don't they go away now?'

No sooner had she spoken, that we overheard a conversation between two infested humans.

'They said we are to search the area. The Pegasian must have left something behind – some kind of cube, they said...'

We all looked down at the small glowing cube Prince Erlan had used to give us the Pegasian power, my hands tightly clenched around it.

'Throw it away,' Abiona urged me.

I shook my head.

'I can't!'

'Do it! We're never making it out of here alive otherwise!'

'I believe Annabel is right,' Lynn offered. 'Who knows what they can do with it...'

'If a Pegasian can pass this power on to anyone using that cube, there's no way Variscite Three lays his hands on it.' Phoebe further insisted.

Abiona scowled.

'What do we _do_ then?'

We stared helplessly at the schoolyard, still crawling with monstrous aliens and infested people. The gates were not very far away, but anyone would see us if we were to go through it, and they could easily track us down. We could hide in the building, but once again they would see us enter it and all they would need to do would be to search the entire school until they would find us. And we could not sit behind the bushes for much longer, for they were going to have a look there sooner or later. I desperately looked around, trying to focus.

Think, Annabel. What are you strong at?

A row of trees stood not far from us. I raised my eyes, absent-mindedly gazing at their trunk and branches. One of them was so tall you could practically reach the school's roof from it. And then, it hit me.

'I know. I'm going to create a diversion,' I suddenly announced.

'A diversion? How so?'

'I'm going to lure them to the other side of the building.'

'But you can't go round it without exposing yourself!' Sophie objected, her eyes wide open. 'The only way to the other side is right through those... monsters!'

'Exactly. That's why I'm going to go _over_ it. You guys run away as soon as they're going after me.'

'This is crazy! Who could climb their way over a huge thing like that?!'

'If anyone in the school, I'd say the top gymnastics student.'

My classmates fell silent and stared at me for a while. We all knew that was risky, but on the other hand, it was our only way out. Lynn reached for my hand.

'Be careful.'

I gave a faint smile.

'I will.'

I think I managed to make that line sound convincing to the others, but deep down I must say I wasn't overconfident, to say the least. I stuffed the Pegasian cube into my backpack hastily and crawled a few feet away. I took a deep breath while waiting for the signal, trying to keep my cool, saying to myself it was just like a competition, with everyone staring at you and making your heart race – except this time, the point was for _nobody_ to see me, of course. As soon as I heard Abiona's quiet whisling, I darted to the nearest tree and hid behind it, away from the Infested. I stood there motionless for a while, carefully listening. As I decided I was clear to proceed, I looked up at the lowest branches. They were a bit high for me but I knew I should be able to catch them. I bent my knees slightly and mentally counted to three. I leapt up and grasped on to a branch. I threw my feet up to give my body momentum, and used it to pull myself up, pretty much like a bar kip. Peace of cake so far.

I quickly climbed one branch after another. I was not as perfect as I could be with uneven bars, but then again aesthetics weren't my primary concern at that time. I merely tried my best to enjoy the moment, as it felt nice to be in my element amid the crisis. Playing with my secret friend gravity ten feet over those horrendous creatures helped me feel safer, unreachable. My school uniform felt more uncomfortable than ever, though. I couldn't make movements as broad as I was used to. At some point, I even ripped my skirt.

_Oh no, mom's gonna be furious!_ a small voice in my head whined.

_Oh, for god's sake, Annabel!_ another voice answered right away. _You're in the middle of a courtyard crowded with creepy alien invaders who're looking for you and you're worried about your _uniform_?_

'It allows me to move freely, anyway,' I muttered to myself.

I was soon on top of the tree, with a clear view on the courtyard – though I remained careful not to show myself. The horde of Saurians and Myriapods was spread out, still searching tirelessly. As it seemed like I had plenty of time, I made a pause and stared at the nearby tree. I was to cross the gap between the two as quietly as possible, and then once again in order to get to the highest tree, the one which would allow me to access the roof. As I was trying to figure out which branch would be the best bet to avoid being heard and seen, some shouting below caught my attention. And suddenly, my eyes widened. A group of Infested men and women were waving at the monters and calling out for them. And they were standing dangerously close to the bushes where my classmates were hiding.

Oh, fuck.

I swear I'm usually a polite girl and you could scarcely hear me cursing, if anytime at all. However, at that very moment, the foul word just came straight to my mind. Just imagine how distressed I must have felt for this to happen. After all, it was a matter of life and death – quite literally.

The adrenaline rush through my veins just reminded me of the familiar sensation I experienced right before performing in competition. My mind went blank, I temporarily set aside my fear and stress, focusing on my jump, mentally rehearsing the sequences of movements just a last time, as I would do with any ordinary gymnastics routines. My limbs stopped shaking, my heart went steady, through inexorably fast, and I knew I was in full control of my body again. And so, I threw myself in the air.

Here I go, gravity. Time to play seriously now.

Since the plan wasn't for me to go unnoticed anymore, I went all-out, moving as fast as I could, grabbing one branch after another, even letting out groans here and there. Looking back at it, I can hardly believe how well I was able to adapt to the uneven shapes and sizes of those natural bars. I remember getting this funny thought, that the monkey nickname seemed to fit me even better than I knew, after all.

No sooner had I started to move, that a huge commotion arose down below. Infested people started to shout orders, sending the monsters at me. I could hear Variscite Three's bloodcurdling mental voice echoing in my head: 'Bring them to me _alive_!'

I couldn't help but getting goosebumps at those words. Seeing as how he had ended Prince Erlan's life, getting sliced up by a bunch of Saurians just sounded like a much preferable fate than to be brought to him alive. Fortunately, I was holding tight and didn't lose my balance – plus I was already close to the top of the tallest tree. Then I caught a glimpse of a pack of Saurians trying to go after me and my heart stopped. I had expected those heavily armed creatures to hop helplessly around the trees as they would realize they were stuck to the ground – well, they turned out to be pretty amazing climbers instead. Before I knew it, there were horrendous maws gnawing at me just a few inches away from my legs, and all I could think of was to kick at one of them to take an impulse. I quickly turned back to the starry sky and reached clumsily to the highest branches. Fear had just caught on relentlessly.

When all seemed lost, a slight ray of hope shone as my hand finally reached the rough surface of the building's roof. I grasped it with all my strength and pulled as hard as I could.

Come on!

At that point, I believe that I have a Saurian to thank for pushing me up and giving me enough momentum, so that I was able to rush forward and roll onto the school's roof. I quickly jumped to my feet and dashed breathlessly. Unfortunately, supposing I was able to rival with Saurians at climbing at all, they would totally outmatch me at dashing, and I could soon feel my chasers' heavy breath on my neck. I was also able to hear their claws and blades cutting through the air, closer and closer to my body. Soon, there was a tearing sound, and my back felt lighter all of a sudden. They had ripped my backpack's straps apart. A heap of strangely cold-blooded thoughts suddenly started to pour in my mind.

They can't get my stuff. There's my name written on it, everywhere. They will know who I am. If I let them get it, I'm as good as dead. I have to get it back.

I suddenly went through a series of gymnastics moves. To be able to turn back smoothly. To surprise the enemy. And also, to raise my spirits a bit. I tried to remind myself that they would avoid killing me anyways – I had just met Variscite Three, but I could already tell that's not the kind of boss whose orders you'd want to mess up with. So I stood tall in front of the monsters and glared at them. They stopped and glared back. I clenched my teeth.

'Hey, you!' I shouted at the creature who held my backpack tight between its razor-sharp claws. 'Give that back, at once!'

The Saurian growled and showed its numerous, shining teeth. Apparently, it couldn't understand what I was saying. I immediately saw this as an opportunity to snatch my stuff and make a run for it before it knew what was going on. The creature raised its monstrous claws and prepared to attack. I barely had time to dodge the blow, jumping forward on my hands. From there I could simply have grabbed my backpack and run away, but for some reason it seemed to me like it was a good time to kick the Saurian in the face right before. The creature screamed and thrashed about, knocking me away. It was incredibly strong. I did not land just a few feet away like I would have expected to – but rather, I flew through the air. Pretty far from the monsters. Far enough, actually, to go past the edge of the roof. I stared at the open space below in horror, realizing no gymnastics move, however brilliant, could help me out that, this time.

I was just hoping the others had been able to escape.


	4. Chapter 4

The recollection I have of the following events is a bit hazy. I'm not sure exactly how much happened and how much didn't. I'm not even sure I really experienced everything I'm going to tell about, and not just imagined later, thinking back of it.

I remember falling off all right. However, I was no longer falling from the school building's roof. I was in space. In the orbit of Earth, to be precise. Not far from myself, I could see an entire armada of spacecrafts battling fiercely around the Shadows' Lair, the fortress which had landed in the schoolyard earlier. What looked like the Pegasian ships were being torn apart one after one, and by the time I entered the atmosphere of Earth, there was scarcely any of them left. I felt attracted by the planet more and more. Yes, I was undoubtedly falling, and I would crash thousands of miles below.

Don't give up, Annabel. You can't let the Shadows put you down so easily.

I was startled at Prince Erlan's voice, and even more so as I saw him flying peacefully in circles around me.

B-But! my mind spoke for itself. How can you be here? You – I mean, you're dead, right?

Well, not entirely, Annabel. A part of myself still lives through you and your friends.

Or, I'm just dreaming my last moments away.

What difference does it make in the end? The fact that you're dreaming proves you're still alive. And as long as you're still alive, hope remains, doesn't it?

I'm afraid there's not much I can do to work out this situation, Prince...

That's the reason why I'm here. To provide you with advice.

Then you'd better provide that advice quick, Prince.

Fly, Annabel.

I felt even more helpless than I had a few moments ago.

But I can't fly, Prince!

Sure you can. Give it a try.

What with? I don't have wings like you do!

Yes, you do. You're part Pegasian, now, remember?

But I-

The Prince suddenly soared into the air – or more precisely, he stopped falling alongside me.

Fly, Annabel. Fly or die.

I can't!

Yes, you can. Your mind is strong. I believe in you.

I figured I might as well stop trying to convince myself there was nothing I could do, and take advantage of the few remaining moments to focus. What had Prince Erlan's told us in the courtyard? Genetic engineering... Powers... Formulae. A formula. A formula what was I needed. But I barely had a few seconds on my hands to try like billions of combinations of words before I could possibly hit a single result. What in the virtually endless human lexicon was I supposed to say to trigger any powers relevant to my current situation?

I tried to remember further. Meaningful sentences. Yes, that's what Prince Erlan had told us. The formulae had to be meaningful. I was looking for something that had some kind of sense. But unusual. Yes, he'd said that, too. An unusual, meaningful sentence. I looked around, desperately searching for an answer in my imaginary surroundings. Strangely enough, though I was already deep inside the atmosphere of the Earth, and closer to the ground than ever, I could clearly make out the shape of a planet in the heavens. A gray, rocky planet, with lots of craters in its surface, just like the Moon. But it wasn't the Moon. I remembered how a classmate of mine had mistaken it for the Moon during our last astronomy lesson.

Then, it dawned on me. It all seemed so obvious all of a sudden. It was like a riddle written in the stars. Yes, it had to be that. Since I was on the verge of being crushed on the ground like an insect, I had nothing to lose anyways.

It felt strange. I experienced the physical sensation of air blowing through my throat as I uttered the formula, but at the same time the voice I heard seemed distant, powerful, like it was echoing from the depths of space. And as I was about to hit the surface of the Earth, I could hear myself shouting:

'MERCURY POWER, MAKE-UP!'

Then silence.

It felt like an eternity until I finally came back to my senses. I tried to move around. I was on the ground. My face was down to the ground. I could move. No pain. No sensation of being broken, or torn apart. I was healthy.

I quickly got up and looked around. Only then did I truly realize that something was different with me. Knowing what would come next, I could now explain it better to you, but at that point it was just a fuzzy sensation. I was nos just feeling okay – I was feeling _great_, actually! A tiny whistling in my ear caught my attention and I looked up, at the edge of the roof. A Saurian was standing there, and I could see him clearly, so very clearly – it was incredibly how I could tell every last detail about the cracks in its skins, the shape of its teeth, or the complex coloring of its eyes, even though it stood six stories above. I faced away and ran. Well, ran, strictly speaking. Because it didn't feel like running at all. More like – teleporting forward! I don't know how to put it any better. I was there before I could even see where I was going. My brain was racing, it would work on its own accord, and my body felt strong, so incredibly strong. Oddly enough the Saurians which were chasing me weren't able to keep up anymore.

At some point I ran into a dead-end and my conscious self rang the alarm. But my body wouldn't listen, and instead of stopping, it jumped forward. I soared in the air, pretty much like when the mad Saurian had tossed me away, except that I was doing so on my own strength this time. My hand grabbed the roof of a nearby house, and I flew past it, just like I had hopped over a low wall. It felt like gymnastics, like when I had this sensation of full control, that nothing could stop me. But that – that was just – I can't even find the words. At that point it wasn't even playing with gravity, it wasn't even fun anymore. It was like finding out that you can run when all you've done your entire life is crawl.

Anyways, I eventually found my way home, somehow – after losing all of my pursuers countless times, despite their amazing physical abilities. My conscious self hinted against walking through the front door like that, and my body wasn't in the mood for embarrassing itself with doors anyways, so I leapt right through my bedroom's open window. I don't know if it was the fact that I finally stopped, or the sight of my familiar, safe environment, or both – but I suddenly felt exhausted and heavy and my shaking limbs weren't able to support my weight anymore. I barely caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror before collapsing. And I kept seeing this picture in the dreamy state I went into – the picture of a heavenly Annabel, with silvery hair, shiny eyes, crystal fingernails, gorgeous jewelry, and exuding with an overwhelming powerful aura. I could even swear there was a hint of radiant Pegasus-like wings in the background.

* * *

I woke up with a severe headache the next morning. I hadn't exactly been sleeping straight through the night from the time I got back, because my mom had found me in the meantime and yelled at me like crazy – just like I knew she would. I couldn't care less at the moment, I was so exhausted I actually hard a hard time just to understand what she was saying. I think the sight of my school uniform ripped apart and her daughter completely stoned made her way more worried than angry and she helped me out of my damaged clothes and let me go to sleep without asking for further explanation. I just had enough composure to take the Pegasian cube out of my school bag and stash it under my pillow.

So, when I woke up, everything seemed to have gone back to normal. Birds chirping outside, music on the radio, Mom cooking breakfast, Dad reading the newspaper. Getting dressed, packing my stuff ready for school. Aside from my ruined uniform and backpack – and the cube, of course – there was virtually no trace of the previous day's horrors, and I was starting to wonder whether I had simply gone crazy and was being completely delusional with how all of it supposedly happened. Fortunately we had kept my older sister's Ellen uniform and I would be able to wear it until we bought a new one. It didn't look very good on me though because Ellen was much taller than me. When I showed up for breakfast, she started teasing me:

'Wow, Anna, been putting yourself into the washing machine, have you?'

'Wouldn't hurt for you to spend some time in it, anyways,' I fired back.

Ellen and I had always been very close to each other. Recently, though, she had become quite distant and I never knew why.

'Less talking and more eating up!' Mom urged us. 'Anyways, Ellen, how's it going with that new club of yours?' she casually asked, as to avoid talking about me, I suppose.

'The Sharing? Oh, mom, it's great, I promise! Much better than hanging around with those losers from the swimming club...'

Ellen was great at swimming and had been an inspiring figure for students my age at our school's club – which is actually how I got to know Lynn better, since she's in too. But as soon as she'd heard from that Sharing thing, she'd suddenly quit swimming with no further explanation. I had no idea what they did exactly, but I couldn't help but resent them for stealing my sister away from me.

I quickly ate up my plate with an unusual appetite everyone noticed – but no one dared to bring it up. Mom told be she would be coming with me to see the principal – and I knew better than to argue with her on that matter. So she gave us a ride. She went ahead of us, and before leaving me at the school's gate, Ellen grabbed my arm.

'Hey, sis?'

'Yeah, what is it?' I said, startled.

'Listen, I know the two of us haven't been as close as we use to be lately... Stuff going on in my life, people to see, exciting things to do, y'know!' She giggled. 'Anyways,' she said in a more serious tone, 'I don't know what happened yesterday, but – if you wanna talk about it, I'm there, right?'

Her touch was reassuring. At the sight of her beaming face, with that confident smile of hers I'd always envied, and those sweet words she was having, I must say I was extremely tempted to tell her everything, right there, just like that. But instead, I gave an awkward smile.

'Thank you, Ellen. I won't forget that.'

'Cool,' she grinned, rubbing my arm tenderly. 'And, oh, you should try and come over to the Sharing someday, y'know? Have a lil' fun... hang out together like in the old days, huh?'

'All right,' I coyly replied, waving her goodbye.

I entered the school's courtyard. Everything seemed perfectly normal, and it was hard to believe that monstrous aliens had made an appearance there and chased a schoolgirl over the roof less than twenty-four hours ago. Phoebe was hanging with her usual gang of stylish girls and gave me an odd look as I smiled at her. Abiona seemed as scary as ever so I did not dare approach her. And as far as Sophie was concerned, she was quietly enjoying a book, as if nothing had happened. I was seriously starting to doubt my sanity, and going straight to Sophie to question her, I unexpectedly stumbled on Lynn.

'Hey, Annabel! Good to see you! So what about that English paper we worked on together?'

With a gentle, but firm hand on my shoulder, she dragged my away from the others. It was unusual behaviour on her part, so something was definitely up. It didn't help me to relax a bit.

'Lynn? What's going on?' I asked quietly.

'Quit that serious look and smile and giggle,' she said, immediately putting her own advice in practice.

I managed to feign some carefreeness.

'Nice, now that's much better! We just don't want to attract attention, now do we?' Lynn laughed, just like she had made a good joke.

'Yeah, you're right... So what about the others?'

'Well, just as I said... It would seem very suspicious if the five of us suddenly started to hang out together overnight, wouldn't it?'

'Yeah, I suppose so...'

Deep down I knew she was absolutely right, and I felt a bit stupid not to have thought of that by myself. Lynn looked around and hushed her voice a bit.

'Sophie's got a farm, away from time. We reckoned it might be safer to talk there after classes – are you in?'

I nodded quickly. Lynn smiled. The bell rang and we hurried to our classroom. I already knew the answer to that question by now, but I still felt like I had to ask.

'So – did all that actually happen?'

Lynn gave me a bright smile and giggled, still faking gossip girls.

'Every last part of it.'


	5. Chapter 5

'Finally _free_!' Phoebe called as Sophie led us into the barn.

All of us sighed in agreement. To any random listeners, this would seem like a casual way for a schoolgirl to express her relief after finishing classes, but the five of us knew there was a lot more to it – it actually meant we were free to _talk_. Abiona sat down on a crate and stared straight at me.

'Come on, tell us everything.'

Seeing as I looked embarrassed all of a sudden, Lynn came to my rescue.

'Easy, now!' she gently scolded. 'We've barely just arrived!'

'Sorry. Got carried away.'

'Of course we're all curious to hear Annabel's story – but on the other hand, I'm pretty sure she's curious about ours as well.'

I nodded.

'Well nothing much to tell,' Abiona offered. 'We basically waited for you to drag everyone out of the courtyard and got away safely.'

'Weren't you followed?'

'Actually that's quite the short version of it – some of them did go after us.' Phoebe pointed out.

'We split up and lost them eventually.' Lynn explained.

'They quit too easily to my taste. Looks like they were much more interested in you. That's why I'm so eager to hear what you have to say.'

Abiona gave me quite an intense stare. I wasn't at ease, but on the other hand she was right – I actually had something interesting to share. So I told them everything I remembered, in the best way I could.

'I can't believe you did it!' a fascinated Sophie exclaimed.

'It pretty much did itself, actually.'

'_Mercury Power, Make-Up?_' Abiona chuckled. 'Seriously?'

'Yeah, I know... I haven't given it another try yet-'

'Well, you'd better start practicing a lot, because you're the only one who's got it so far – should we run into any trouble you're the only one who can save the day!'

'Let's not get all worked up about those powers just yet – I've barely awakened them anyways.'

'Yeah, but you have, and real quick!'

'I believe that's just because my life was threatened.'

I had a chill run through my spine as I recalled Prince Erlan's words from my dream – fly, or die. Had I actually flown?

'Oh yeah, I get it,' Abiona sneered. 'So, wanna try and shoot me down with daddy's rifle, anyone?'

'This is _not_ funny,' Phoebe scowled.

'Come on, relax, princess. Poor taste humour might very well be our only remaining luxury soon.'

'There was so much pressure involved,' I insisted, ignoring the two of them. 'With the Pegasian cube to protect and all-'

Sophie suddenly gasped.

'The cube! Where is it?'

'Err – I stashed it into my secret box. Couldn't quite think of a better place in the rush...'

'Bring it here,' Sophie urged me. 'It'll be safe – we could lock it up in a special box and bury it, like, some place known only to the five of us. This way, no one can possibly find it.'

We all nodded enthusiastically.

'Good call,' I praised Sophie, genuinely impressed with her sudden burst of cunning.

'Umm – thanks,' she said with a blush. 'Been reading a lot, you know – _The Treasure Island_.'

'Just hope your mom or sister aren't snooping around your room as we speak,' Abiona thoughtfully observed.

'Oh, they wouldn't, don't worry about that.'

'They wouldn't, in their right state of mind...'

'What are you trying to imply?'

'As far as we know, those Shadows can infest anyone. Anyone can be the enemy.'

'But not our own family!' Phoebe exclaimed. 'I mean – we would _know_, right?'

I realized how futile her words were just as she spoke. The bitter truth slapped me in the face and I couldn't help but shake my head.

'No – no, we wouldn't. As much as I hate to admit it, Abiona's right. Who could've told the Infested people we saw yesterday apart from normal people? They're monsters in a perfect disguise. And they can be anyone. _Even_ our own family. We cannot take any chances.'

We fell silent and reflected on the extent of that tough realization for a while. Then Lynn extended her arm in the middle of our small group.

'We should make a pact out of it. Let's swear that there will be no talking or Shadows or Infested people or Saurians or Myriapods whatsoever, unless it's among the five of us-'

'- or Prince Erlan and the Pegasian cube-' Sophie pointed out.

'- or Pegasian technology and our super-powers-' Phoebe added.

'- even to our own beloved and trusted ones-' I insisted.

'- until we see it all to the end.' Abiona solemnly concluded.

As each of us spoke, we would extend our arm too, and join our hand with that of the others, just like we'd done when getting instant genetic engineering from Prince Erlan through the Pegasian cube. This was an intense moment – we all exchanged serious looks and nodded to each other for a few minutes before parting. And I remember I told myself that we could make quite an awesome team after all.

'So, I guess I should go get the cube right away, shouldn't I?'

'It's already late,' Sophie shrugged, 'Maybe this can wait until tomorrow.'

'Unless you can transform into Super Annabel and get all the way to your place and back faster than the bus would,' Abiona challenged.

'I'm not even sure I can do it again, you know.'

'Why don't you give it a try?'

I bit my lip, pondering whether this was a good idea at all. I didn't want to look stupid in front of the other girls. On the other hand, I would have to try out the Pegasian technology again sooner or later, and it seemed like the perfect place to practice – plus, I was really curious and excited at the idea of transforming a second time. So I raised my arm above my head, and yelled '_Mercury Power, Make-Up_!' and waited for something to happen. My four schoolmates were staring intensely, looking for the slightest change to occur. But as seconds were flying by, I still couldn't feel anything.

'It doesn't work,' I said in embarrassment.

'Perhaps you should try harder,' Phoebe suggested, 'You've done it once, you can do it twice.'

'Don't push yourself,' Lynn recommended, 'Let it come to you.'

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. I tried to remember how it felt to fall down the shcool's roof, to reconnect with that sensation of losing my grip. I pictured Prince Erlan flying around me in the emptiness of space, repeating his relentless word of advice over and over – fly or die. I recalled the planet Mercury showing through the clouds as I was swimming in the endless sky. At some point it even felt like my feet weren't on the ground anymore. It was weird, because my sharp sense of balance wouldn't report anything unusual. And yet, my legs strangely felt relieved of my weight.

The girls suddenly started to gasp and to call my name, disturbing my concentration. I knew something was happening but I didn't feel quite ready to open my eyes yet – I had come this far, I knew I was on the right track. Then curiosity took over and made me look at what was going on – and my jaw dropped in utter surprise. All around me, objects, people, everything was floating a few feet above the ground, as if weightless. Of course, _everything_ included my startled classmates, with their eyes wide opened, and expressions of mixed amazement and fear on their faces – and myself, too. It all took me by surprise so much that I completely lost it and we instantly all fell to the ground. I was the only one who kept control and landed on my feet.

'Guys!' I exclaimed, my heart pounding in excitement, 'I think I know how I fell off the school's roof unharmed – I think I can _bend gravity_!'

Abiona sneered at me while massaging her bruised shoulder.

'You don't say!'


End file.
